My name is Griffin Jones and I am the man that is going to bring America back together again. My heart hurts seeing so many Americans angry, frustrated and pitted against each other, but it’s not too late to turn it around. It’s never too late.

I am running for the Republican nomination to represent the great State of Wisconsin in the United States Senate because I am one of you and I believe this country needs leaders that are looking to unite us now more than ever. That is exactly the type of man that I know I am. You may not know me yet, but I’ve been here all along. I can say without hesitation that it has been the honor of my life to live alongside such honorable and noble people, my fellow Wisconsinites.

This is America. In this country, if you believe in something, if you want to see the world a certain way, you don’t just sit behind the keys of a computer – you get up and you go out and fight for what you believe in. No excuses, no fear of judgement, or alienation. YOU JUST FIGHT. And that is exactly what I am doing. Fighting for freedom from the government, fighting for a world that I want to see, fighting for an America that everyone is proud to call home.

Stand for something, even if you stand alone. Stand for something or die for nothing.

I’ve heard politicians my entire life say “If you don’t like it, run for office,” well, here I am. I’ve also heard the phrase “Be the change you want to see in the world,” well, I’m trying to do that too. I couldn’t love this country or this beautiful State more if I tried and I know in my head and my heart that God has led me here and that my cause is worth fighting for. When I say that I’m fighting for America on behalf of Wisconsin, please know that I am fighting for everyone, not just 51% of the people. I believe if you do not represent everyone, you represent no one.

This country has gotten way off track and the tone is moving in the wrong direction. When did we stop talking and start arguing? When did we start justifying and normalizing deviant behavior? When did the media stop reporting the news and started creating the news? When did we stop being friends with others because of their political beliefs? When did the internet consume our lives and our interactions? How many marriages have ended, family members alienated because of social media? This has all happened right before our eyes and is a reality that we all now take for granted, but along the way, we never stopped and asked ourselves what the internet has done to us. Where is all of the content coming from? What is it trying to do to our minds? People of Wisconsin – WAKE UP – we are in a war for our minds against forces that would hope to divide us! The media, politicians, foreign countries and foreign nationals are all complicit in this informational war that has been waged on the minds of Americans. Many of us are complicit in stoking the fires of division as well even if we do not see it that way in the moment, including me. Where does it end? Or better yet – how does it end?

It ends when we stop yelling, start listening to understand, not reply, and hopefully ask ourselves some tough questions and grow through that discomfort.

It ends when we step outside of the echo chambers, get off of the internet and see our neighbors for who they are, not who we think they are.

It ends when we stop labeling, blaming and bucketing people into stereotypical personas.

It ends when we stop believing the glass is half empty and instead focus on how full the glass can be.

It ends when we start focusing on the big positives, not the little negatives.

It ends when we stop tearing each other down and start building each other up.

It ends when we stop demonizing people for their worst moments and define them by their darkest days.

It ends when we allow people to change and grow and forgive those that have wronged society and wronged themselves, free them from their past and focus on their future.

In the last couple years, I have had thousands of discussions with Wisconsinites all over the political spectrum and I’ve come to several conclusions: People want cooperation and a functioning government. Very few people believe every issue up and down either party line. Many have voted or supported candidates on both sides of the aisle. Many people change their opinions as they get older. People do not trust the Government. People do not trust politicians. People are terrified to run for office because their personal lives will be run through the mud publicly. People are tired of politicians only running because they have the funds to do so. Groupthink and political purity have shoved people right or left and silenced many out of fear of being a pariah for disagreeing on a single issue. Politics has become a contact sport and many have been turned off by the new school rules of the game.

I’ve also come to a very powerful conclusion which brings me to this moment and has inspired me to seek this office: Most of the people in this State look at the world the way that I do. Most conversations I have end in some type of agreement or at very least an understanding that we are all in this together. The soul of the Wisconsinite is in my bones and flows through my blood. I know damn well that when I meet my fellow Wisconsinites, they are going to see in my eyes, feel in my handshake and hear in my voice that no one else cares about them more, understands them more and is willing to put it all on the line for them more than I am.

Over the next year I hope to get the chance to get to know you and for you to get to know me and hopefully you will see that I AM ONE OF YOU and we can work to find common ground. I believe I am a candidate that everyone can support and I want you to believe in me the way that I believe in myself, the way that I believe in all of you and the way that I believe in America. I know what is in my heart and what is in my head and I believe I am the best choice to represent all Wisconsinites. Thank you for reading and God Bless!